Van Drivers, Is Logging Really That Bad?

[ATeam]

It is a popular comment often made by B-unit (cargo van) drivers here in the Open Forum.

If you drive a van, you do not have to keep a log or comply with DOT hours of service regulations (certain expceptions apply). While that is absolutely true, how important is that really?

I ask the question for the benefit of expediter wannabees reading this forum. Frequently, people come here who are considering both the cargo van and straight truck ways of doing business.

Over and over again, van drivers, straight truck drivers and big rig drivers advise prospective van owners to stay out of the B-unit business because that sector is saturated.

If you have the option of becoming a straight truck expediter instead of a van driver, and if a better opportunity is preferable to a lesser opportunity, why not bite the compliance bullet and resolve to abide by the hours of service regulations as part of the price of entry into a better opportunity?

Straight truck and big rig drivers keep logs and comply with hours of service regulations all day, every day. Once you figure it out, which does not take long (and help is readily available), it is no different than your pretrip inspections or route planning. It's just part of the job that is routinely done.

 

[highway star]

That freedom is what kept me in a van for longer than I really should have stayed. I liked being able to work as much as I wanted when things were busy in the hopes of balancing the slow times. I finally moved up last March and I wish I would have a LONG time ago.

Oh, to more clearly answer your question, it's not a big deal. To me. I know from talking to other van drivers that it is a big deal to some, and I don't think you could convince them otherwise.

 

[60MPH]

I run one in my van but it is only for the IRS "incase they bother me" I would say when I was with panther I did good in a van and took alot of loads a single straight or tractor could not take like 1800 miles with 2 2hour breaks. But with my current carrier I only get a few runs that I could not take all the way with a log book. But you also have to look at the fact with a van after you del you can DH anywhere to relocate yourself for that next load, which with most big carriers you have to do because where you del is either not a good area of there are already to many vans there waiting. I would think but could be wrong that if a straight or tractor del in some where like detroit he may not leave because he will probley get a load the next day. But with a van you could be like #30 "you panther people know what I am talking about" so then you have to DH out to a better area. And that would really eat your book of logs up But if the DOT required us to run a log book I would not have a problem with it. I would then just get out of driving a van and move into something else "probley go back to driving a big truck" when my van was paid for.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I've logged before and logging doesn't bother me. BUT my personal preference is to stay in a Sprinter. Unbelievably we do well in our van. You might question, define "doing well"? Well to us bills are paid, money in the bank, able to take time off whenever we want and go where we want. Show me the money I say....I see most carriers C's are running around $1.12/m plus FSC. Most of our trips are $1.00/m plus FSC. I change my own flats can you? My tolls are half yours. Operational costs are what? 50% more? At 22 mpg that alone. We are not restricted as to what streets to take. I am sorry you big guys can have your .40-.50 per mile more. I know you guys sometimes gets the odd load at over $2 bucks but those are even thinning out.

On the other hand...We have cut our teeth in a van and years have taught us on where to be and not to be. I could not at this time recommend vanning to anyone unless they have very deep pockets.

 

[greg334]

Now because of OVM's post, I really feel that all vans should log to equal the playing field.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Now because of OVM's post, I really feel that all vans should log to equal the playing field.

Greg...Can you clarify your statement?

 

[Fr8 Shaker]

Greg if that was to happen I know I would and I'm sure many many others would go back to driving a straight truck. You know make the BIG BUCKS. Then don't be surprised if you ask for your board position only to find out that your 25th out.

 

[Falligator]

I run one in my van but it is only for the IRS "incase they bother me" I would say when I was with panther I did good in a van and took alot of loads a single straight or tractor could not take like 1800 miles with 2 2hour breaks. But with my current carrier I only get a few runs that I could not take all the way with a log book. But you also have to look at the fact with a van after you del you can DH anywhere to relocate yourself for that next load, which with most big carriers you have to do because where you del is either not a good area of there are already to many vans there waiting. I would think but could be wrong that if a straight or tractor del in some where like detroit he may not leave because he will probley get a load the next day. But with a van you could be like #30 "you panther people know what I am talking about" so then you have to DH out to a better area. And that would really eat your book of logs up But if the DOT required us to run a log book I would not have a problem with it. I would then just get out of driving a van and move into something else "probley go back to driving a big truck" when my van was paid for.

My thoughts exactly...the downside...the sleeping conditions aren't the greatest being cramped up in a tin can, however, If I'm hungry, it's no problem to stop at a drive thru while on a load and catch a bite to eat. Not to mention I can get into places on loads that a semi can't. I was also in NYC last week and I would have hated to be in a semi or straight truck. Not being harassed by motor carrier enforcement is also a bonus...Even if I was I know my specs are up-to-date. Other downsides, well I guess we just don't have the height advantage that semi's do if ya know what i mean....lol

 

[Turtle]

My problem with logging is that my biological clock and my sleep patterns don't always coincide with the HOS restrictions. I know how my body reacts in certain situations, and it's better for me to let my body dictate what I can and can't do rather than let unyielding HOS restrictions do that for me.

For example, I recently delivered to NC after a long run, and I was ready for somewhere between 8-12 hours of rest. After getting just 6 hours of that rest I was called with a load picking up 250 miles away in SC, going to just outside Montreal, 1200 miles away. Thaaaat's 1450 miles total, and on very little sleep. They said the load had a 5 hour break built into the routing time. I took a look at the load the routing and other factors, and turned it down, saying that a 5 hour break is great, but that I'd need that and an additional 8 hour break, at least. I know what my body can handle.

Well, turns out the actual protect time was an additional 18 hours later than the "scheduled" delivery time. OK, that's not a problem then, as I can get the rest I need, and more importantly, when I need it.

I deadheaded the 5 hours down to the pickup and squeezed in 4 hours of sleep, picked up the load and drove to Richmond, VA where I pulled over and slept for 7 hours, timing the break not only for when I needed it, but also to avoid most of the traffic in DC, Baltimore, Delaware, New Jersey and the GW Bridge, passing through all those places after midnight and before the morning rush hour. Got up into New England somewhere, about 5 hours from the delivery, and pulled over and got another 6 hours sleep.

If I had been tied down with HOS, then the run between DC and the GB Bridge would have been at the way wrong time, resulting in unnecessary stress and 3 or 4 wasted hours sitting in traffic, and I would have been anything but well rested and alert for those last hours of the trip (although I probably would have run out of hours before I even got there). Instead, I was able to run the trip and stay well rested, alert, and stress-free the entire way.

I've logged many a load hauling HAZMAT in a van with Con-Way NOW, and in some of those instances the HOS clock said I had hours left, but my body disagreed, just as there are times when my body knows it has hours left, when the HOS clock would say otherwise.

I can go the grocery store, the mall, the bank, Post Office, wherever I want, without having the HOS clock start ticking. I can deliver in Flagstaff and go to the Grand Canyon without the HOS clock measuring my time at the South Rim.

Trucking by its very nature, and expediting in particular, can disrupt circadian rhythms to the point where they are in direct conflict with HOS restrictions. When you are restricted to 11 hours of driving, and only getting paid when you are moving, many drivers are forced to ignore what their bodies are telling them in order to put as many miles as they can within those 11 hours.

The only cure for sleepy is sleep.

Sometimes that coincides with the HOS

and sometimes it don't.